"The Song of Mom and Dad"

Last night Charles stayed up in his bed with a flashlight and wrote this song:

"The Song of Mom and Dad"

I love mom and dad so much.

They take care of me, they feed me, they take me special places.

My parents are the best thing that ever happened to me.

They are nice, talented, and helping parents.

I LOVE MY PARENTS!

Love, Charles

I will treasure that poem always.

IHOP, Primary Activity, and Pizza Moment!

This past week-end was so much fun!

On Friday night we went as a family to Disneyland and finally got Charles and Glenn their passes. We ate dinner there and got on three rides before the crowds wore us out and we had to go home.

Saturday morning, Glenn got up at 5am to go shooting with some guys from the ward and scouts. I got up at that time and worked on sewing costumes for the stake play.

Then I took the kids with me to the Stake center to meet with the Johnson's and the sewing ladies about the costumes. The kids were excited because Danette let them each pick a donut. Since we had some time to kill between that and the primary activity, I took the kids to IHOP for a real breakfast.

When we got there, I knew they weren't that hungry, so I ordered one meal and a carafe of OJ and we shared. When we were eating, a man approached us and offered to make balloon creations for the kids and we thought he was weird at first. Then as he warmed up to us and we started talking, I felt better. He made Maryn an Ariel balloon and he made Charles a drooling alien hat! They looked so awesome and I couldn't believe that the guy was working out of a restaurant! I tipped him $5 and wished that I had more. He was so talented!!

Then we made our way over to the church for the primary activity and it was so much fun! We divided the kids into different "families" and went on a scavenger hunt around the building. Then the kids played a couple of games that were designed to make them work together as a "family". It went really well.

Today in church, Sister Hicks was asking the kids if they could name different types of "houses" we should be making according to the scripture we've been studying this month. She was looking for answers like, "a house of order, a house of fasting, etc..."

My daughter was yelling over all of the other kids, "A HOUSE OF PIZZA!!!", multiple times! What is wrong with her?

My Wolf Cub!

Yesterday Charles got to go to scouts for the first time!

We are so excited for him. He's been looking forward to this for a long time because he knows it's a right-of-passage. He's growing up!

We went the day before to purchase all the things he needed. $75 later, we left the store. My friend, Mindy, tried to tell me how expensive everything was, but I was still shocked! I am so grateful that Mindy had found a secondhand shirt and gave it to us, or else the total would have been so much more! Thank you, Mindy!

Glenn was so excited to see Charles go to scouts, that he woke up and took him. I confess, I'll continue to encourage that male bonding thing. Anything to cut down on my taxi driving.

Medieval Times!!

Today I had the opportunity to go to a fundraising convention at Medieval Times for the PTA. My friend, Cheyenne, is over the fundraising at our school and invited me to go with her.

We had so much fun! The fundraising exhibits were very creative and involved a lot of free little treats and give-aways. We even got the pictures for free! They served a continental breakfast and gave away so many raffles- of course I didn't win. :( We also got to see all of the horses they use in the night show.

After all of that, they did a mini show for us with all of the horses and sword fights. They served us hot breadsticks during the show. We got to wear our paper crowns and cheer for the Black and White team!

When it was all over, we received gift bags and a roll of gift wrap on our way out. They were filled with coffee mugs and two Entertainment Books!! I can never get enough coupons! I had so much fun and came home with candy and cookies for Glenn because he missed out.

Fun With Desi!!

Last night Maryn's friend, Desi, came over for a sleepover! Desi's mom had doctor's appointments all day today up at UCLA, so I offered to babysit. We had so much fun!

When Dawn dropped her off at our house, she came with two hot pans full of enchiladas. She does this because I have always been praised for my enchiladas, but my kids like hers better! She gets a kick out of this and it's her way of rubbing it in. They are really good.

That night we let the kids go crazy and destroy the playroom. Charles slept out on the couch so that the girls could watch movies and play late. I knew they were going to have a hard time going to sleep, but 11pm?! It was crazy! I was so tired! They stayed up with flashlights and read books and told bedtime stories.

This morning Maryn was up at 6:30am. I knew it would be an interesting day, but it turned out surprisingly well. I made a special lunch- chicken salad sandwiches on rolls, fruit, string cheese, freshly baked cookies, and we headed out to the LA Zoo. Desi was very nervous about the zoo because she heard there were gorillas there and she's afraid of gorillas. But, once she saw them, she realized that they weren't as big as she imagined them, and she was fine after that.

We ate our lunch by the park. There were a lot of school groups there, so it was hard for the girls to play because the other big kids kept running into them and accidentally hitting them. Desi was nervous about trying the chicken salad sandwich, but she liked it! I was happy because it's the first time that I've made it.

The animals were pretty lazy today! The weather was really warm and they were all sleeping. It was hard to get any good pictures of them.

The girls were worn out pretty quickly from their nightly activities and asked to go home soon after our lunch. So, we slowly made our way out of the park as they whined. It seemed their energy quickly refueled when the Dippin' Dots cart came into view. We stopped and I got them each some ice cream.

Then we stopped at the gift shop to get them matching necklaces to remember their zoo day. We had such a wonderful time with her and when we dropped her off at home, her mom had good news, too! There's a surgery they want to try on her heart so they can wait on the heart transplant! Woo-Hoo!

Charles' Good Day!!

Today when I picked up Charles from school, his teacher told me that he was the fastest runner in the class when they did their 3 lap run! She also said that he got 100% on his Language test and won their class spelling bee!! I am so happy for him! He is such a talented boy and I'm glad it shines through sometimes!

Pre-School Drama!

All this year, Maryn has had little upsets at preschool with two of her little friends. She has come home quite frequently upset by some thing they've said to her or done. Mostly she gets her feelings hurt because they'll tell her that she's not their friend anymore.

When this happens, we talk about feelings and how we feel when people say mean things, and what we should do, and all the right ways to talk to others. So, for the past few months, Maryn's been trying to do her best. She'll come home and tell me that they said they weren't her friend anymore and she'll tell them that they are all friends at preschool. So I've been feeling like she's learned a lot this year.

Well, yesterday I was approached by one of the girl's grandma. She told me how her grand-daughter came home crying and so upset that Maryn said she wasn't her friend. Then, this morning, I was approached by the other girl's mother to tell me the same thing! I couldn't believe it! These girls have been talking like that all year, but the first time Maryn says it back, they get all upset!

I felt a little glad that Maryn stood up for herself, but at the same time, I had to remind her about what we've talked about. I tried to explain to both women that Maryn's been hearing those things all year. I apologized for what Maryn said to smooth things over. Now I'm caught between what I should have done. Should I have told the women earlier in the year about their girl's behavior? I didn't want to make a big deal out of 4 year-old's drama, but now I feel like they think Maryn is a brat. The women are asking the other mom's if they've heard about all the pre-school drama that's been happening and telling them about what Maryn said!! I'm seriously feeling like I'm in the Twilight Zone!

Charles in Charge?

You know how I like to post about the interesting, and sometimes rude, people I come across in daily life. Well, the other day was another unbelievable moment.

I took the kids to the dollar movie theater in the Main Place Mall on Tuesday. We got there a little early and decided to shop around. Charles wanted to got into Game Stop to look for a game he's been wanting. While we were in there, looking at everything, Maryn got excited about a game and called out to Charles to come and look! We both went and looked and I told them it was time to go.

We were making our way out of the store slowly, when I heard the two geeky cashiers start to make fun of Charles' name. They were saying "Charles" in different sarcastic tones and then started singing the theme song "Charles in Charge". I looked over at them in disbelief because we were still in the store! They were talking about how weird his name was like we weren't even there!

I hurried him out of the store before he heard them. I couldn't believe two "adults" ( I use that term loosely) would behave like that.

Mindy! Mindy! Mindy!

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Mindy saying that she wanted to go out to breakfast this morning! I was so excited to see her! She was only here for 12 hours- she came late last night and left this morning. Her mom had to get some stuff from her storage and get back for work and Mindy helped drive. So, we met for breakfast at Marie Callendar's and got to visit before she took off. It was so good to see her! I had to get a picture of us together because she's pregnant now and I've never seen her pregnant before! Sorry it's blurry.

Gangsta Girl!

Last night I was serving Maryn her dinner when she said this:

"Mom, this dinner looks good, Yo!"

All About Maryn!!

Maryn has said some funny things lately that I haven't recorded. Also, I wanted to ask your opinions on something that really bothered me yesterday.

About a month, or so, ago, Glenn was giving Maryn her bath and we had run out of her body wash. So, Glenn decided to use his body wash to wash her. She was quite upset by this and tried to argue that it was boy soap. I walked in and asked what all the fuss was about and this is what she told me:
"Daddy used the boy soap on me and now I smell like trash!"
Glenn and I started laughing! She wasn't happy until I promised her that she could use my lotion after her bath. Then she said, "Aaah, now I smell like a girl again!"

The other thing she said was on Sunday morning. We were getting ready for church and she came to me with one shoe on, too lazy to look for the other one. Glenn told her, "Come on, Maryn, help me look for the other one."
And she told him, "Dad, we're not on a safari! You have to go on a safari if you want to look for stuff."


The other thing that happened is what bothered me.
Yesterday I took Maryn to her kindergarten vaccinations and check-up. She's 4 1/2. The doctor told me that she was below average for height and overweight. She weighs 40 lbs. The doctor told me to put her on a low-fat, low sodium diet. I was in shock. I feel like I've been very careful with making sure my kids aren't overweight. I asked the nurse what she should weigh at this age and she said 32 lbs. That sounds really low for a girl going on 5. I went home and checked the charts for myself and 38 lbs. is average for her age! What's your opinion? I have never looked at my daughter and seen her as having weight issues, but now I'm paranoid that I'm not seeing something!

Charles' 8th Birthday!!

Yesterday was Charles' 8th birthday! We tried to make it a very special day for him. Because we are doing his baptism in Idaho, we decided not to do a party this year. We wanted to take him to Disneyland for his free birthday ticket. Since Maryn and I were blacked out that day, we decided to have Glenn take him and get the Twofer ticket. That way, we'd be able to upgrade both tickets next month and get them annual passes. It worked out perfectly because Charles wanted to go to California Adventure for his birthday and they upgraded Charles' free ticket to the twofer ticket for free!

We started out the day by going out to breakfast at IHOP, Charles picked it. They even brought him an ice cream sundae and sang to him. I thought that was really cool because it was breakfast time on a Saturday and they really surprised us!

Then I dropped Glenn and Charles off at Disneyland and they had a wonderful time together. Charles got to do whatever he wanted. Glenn got him his own favorite bread bowl for lunch and then a chocolate sundae for dessert. While they were gone, Maryn and I cleaned up the house and did some grocery shopping, and made the cake. We had a great time together. It was sweet watching Maryn get so excited for her brother's birthday! She wanted to do everything for him.

Glenn called for us to pick them up before dinner. We came home and I made chicken nuggets and creamed corn for dinner at Charles' request. I served him on the special birthday plate. After dinner, we all watched his favorite movie, "Hoot" and had the cake. He said that this was his best birthday ever! He's thanked us about five times for making his birthday the best he's ever had! What a sweet boy he is and how grateful we are to have him in our lives.

Here's the pictures of Maryn helping with the cake: